The Second Sunrise
by BriannaTheStrange
Summary: Mending the bond did not work. The queen and princes are now fully beasts with no human emotion. Her life clouded by misery, Merida will do whatever it takes to change her mother and brothers back to normal. Oneshot.


**A/N: Rated T because of a character death. It killed me to write this, but the idea has been floating around in my head for a while. :c I apologize if its been done before. Edit: I hear it's kinda similar to a story already up? If that author wants me to, I'll remove this.**

It didn't work.

Mending the bond came to no avail.

It was too late.

Sunlight covered Merida and Elinor. Her mother was now truly a beast. Specifically, a bear.

The clansmen surrounded them at the circle of stones with confusion and sympathy in their eyes. Merida's fingers dug into the bear's dark grey fur. "I love you," she whispered in vain, her soft voice cracking with each word while tears streaked down her face.

Her mother was no longer any part human. There was no human mind behind those dark eyes. The bear sniffed the air slowly as it scanned over the men. Its lip curled up into a snarl, but a soft touch from Merida on its muzzle made it cease.

This strange-looking animal was her cub—it smelled like it.

"Mum," the girl breathed, though the words did not register in the animal's mind and were just mindless noises. "Please, no... Come back. I didn't mean for this tae happen… You have tae understand… I didn't want this…"

The bear slowly rose to all four paws and shook the tapestry off itself. It made a grunting sound as three small, dark-eyed cubs waddled up to it. These were also her cubs. They too no longer felt human emotions.

Merida gazed upward at her now animalistic mother as it stared down at her with dark eyes. The princess fell to the ground and let out broken sobs of grief.

Fergus stared at the bear that was his wife. Men awaited his orders, but he said nothing.

There was nothing neither he nor anyone could do.

The suitors and the clansmen left soon afterwards. DunBroch mourned the loss of their queen and princes. They felt the grief of the king and princess, though the commoners sorrow was nowhere near as strong as the two remaining royals.

Merida and her father grew dull and listless. Conversations were nonexistent. The tapestry had been hung up once again, but whenever Merida so much as glanced at it, she wanted to scream in mourning. She often did and it was impossible to console her once she began.

Still, every day, Merida would go into the woods. The bears that were her mother and brothers resided in a den by the river of salmon. She would watch from afar and observe their behavior. When they spotted her, they approached and followed her through the forest. Even when she walked through the village, they accompanied her. No one disturbed them. They knew who these bears were and what they meant to their princess.

At night, the girl would lie awake with her tired eyes open and staring out the window. How she longed to be in her human mother's embrace. She just wanted the queen to tell her everything would be alright and that she'd always be there for her.

Merida lay up until her weeping lulled herself to sleep. She swore she could sometimes hear her mother's soft singing, but she assumed it was because she was so weary.

It was still dark out when Merida walked outside castle DunBroch with no weapons to protect her. What was the point? If death was in her near future, let it come. She then spotted a blue light in the distance and, without so much as a heartbeat of hesitation, followed it.

There stood the witch in the center of the stone pillars.

"Ah, hello Princess," chirped the witch, "Did your purchase arrive?"

Merida's empty eyes bore deep into the woman's gaze. "Aye."

The witch tilted her head. "Satisfied?"

"No," she breathed.

The witch's eyes narrowed. "I thought you said you knew wot you were doing."

"I thought I did too."

"Well…" the old woman began, placing a finger to her chin in thought. "I suppose we can do an…exchange."

"An exchange?" Merida's brow rose slightly.

A strange smile crossed her face. "Yes. Et will fix this little 'problem' a' yours. So long as you are willin' tae accept the terms that come with my exchange policy."

"I'll do anything," pleaded Merida, her eyes becoming wet with stinging tears and her voice growing strained. "_Please_. Just turn them back tae normal."

The witch gave a slow nod and snapped her fingers. "Expect delivery of your purchase soon."

Merida looked around restlessly before turning back to the witch, but she was gone. Her heart then suddenly stung as if an arrow had pierced it. With a sharp intake of breath, she fell to the ground.

Her mother and siblings emerged from the woods the next morning, but not covered in fur. They were in their human form. Joyful tears fell down their face as they were reunited with the king by a warm embrace.

"Where's Merida?" asked Elinor quickly.

After the queen and her sons were clothed, a search around the castle and its grounds revealed nothing. They waited until dusk for their daughter to return. A wisp then appeared before the family of five and beckoned them into the forest.

It couldn't be true.

She wouldn't accept it.

Elinor stumbled blindly up the slight incline that led to the circle of stones. The last rays of sun just barely touched the tops of the huge rocks. A wisp hovered above the figure of her daughter in the center before vanishing with a soft '_woosh_'.

The queen collapsed to her knees at her daughter's side. She stroked the princess's pale cheek incessantly and moved fiery locks tenderly from her face, whispering, "I'm here, wake up. I'm here, wake up." over and over through strangled sobs.

Fergus and the triplets stared from a distance at the queen and princess. The king's eyes were dark and stung with tears. The boys watched with anger and confusion. Surely their sister would rise soon. It had to be a prank of some sort.

Elinor pleaded frantically for her beloved daughter to open her eyes and speak to her. Merida lay with her head cradled gently in her mother's arms and her blue eyes closed peacefully. There were no wounds marring her soft flesh except for the slice Elinor in bear form had given her when battling Fergus.

A heartbreaking smile tugged at the queen's lips as she turned to her husband. "She's just sleeping . Sleeping, that's all." She turned back to Merida and caressed her cheek. "Sleeping, just sleeping."

DunBroch mourned.

The earth was dug up and the casket was lowered in.

Elinor screamed in anguish as the dirt was carefully piled on. Fergus restrained her as tears went down his own face. The queen cried out and beat at his chest to be released, and finally he gave in. She staggered forward and dug her fingers into the freshly churned earth where the casket lay buried. Her tears were quickly absorbed by the dirt as she wailed in agony. The mother begged for Merida to appear and grace her with a smile. She longed for it. This was just some sick joke, she kept saying. A terrible dream from which she would soon wake.

But it was all too real.

A headstone with their daughter's name etched on it was placed firmly in the earth.

The triplets watched from behind their father with worry clouding their gazes. They tugged at his cape for answers, though received nothing but a blank stare.

Elinor shook with uncontrollable sobs. How could she let this happen? Why was fate so cruel to her? Slowly, a soft lullaby she used to sing to her child escaped her lips. It was distant and heartbreaking.

As she stared down at the soil, it hit her like a sharp gust of chilling wind:

Merida—her precious daughter who she loved so dearly—was gone.


End file.
